James Talarico, the Texas Democratic state representative and Presbyterian seminarian, has said he forgives Pete Hegseth’s pastor for praying for his death. On Tuesday, Texas’s popular Democratic nominee for a US Senate seat pushed back against comments from Brooks Potteiger, the defense secretary’s closest spiritual adviser, who said: “We want him crucified with Christ.”
Talarico said on X: “Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills. You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you. I love you more than you could ever hate me.”
The 36-year-old’s response comes after Potteiger wished for his death last on a Christian nationalist podcast called Reformation Red Pill, which Hegseth has appeared on several times. Potteiger had joined a discussion about Talarico with podcast host Joshua Haymes, a former pastoral intern at Potteiger’s church who previously claimed that the Bible is “pro-ICE raids”.
Speaking on the podcast, Haymes said: “First and foremost, we pray that a man like this would be cut to the heart,” adding: “This is where you have imprecatory psalms. This is where you pray strongly … The psalmist is not shy. God, destroy them. Make them as dung on the ground.”
Haymes went on to say: “I pray that God kills him … Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ.”
In response, Potteiger agreed, saying: “Right, right … We want him crucified with Christ.”
After the podcast, Potteiger released a statement clarifying his comments, saying: “As a Christian, when I pray imprecatory psalms about those who celebrate baby murder, I am not, from my heart, praying for their death. I’m praying for their conversion. That the ‘old man’ would die. That he would be ‘crucified with Christ’ (Pauline language for conversation) and raised to new life, and given a new heart with new desires.”
Earlier this month, Talarico defeated Texas’s Democratic representative Jasmine Crockett in the state’s Democratic primary, campaigning largely on faith-based populism and his bipartisan appeal.
Talarico, who is looking to unseat Republican senator John Cornyn this fall, recently said in an interview with Stephen Colbert that “there is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism.”
